Tuesday 27 August 2013

The Art of Wallpaper


Is there a difference between something designed for purely commercial reasons and something designed for purely aesthetic reasons?  Is there an overlap?  William Morris' wallpaper was designed to look good, to take advantage of modern (Victorian) materials, machinery and techniques and to stand repeated viewings.  But, art?


Warhol brought Morris' thinking into the 20th century.  Using modern (1960s) materials, machinery and techniques his floating cow wallpaper made some kind of statement.  The statement may have been " I like images worth repeating".






Is itIs it enough to say "I am an artist, this is my art"?  If you use shop bought wallpaper as an album sleeve does it become art just because you were a Fine Art student like Barney Bubbles or Ian Dury?
But aren't cds and records and mp3s commercial products?  If you're a songwriter and performer and you want your songs to be out there aren't you entering this commercial world?  What is the difference between your art and the art of the wallpaper designer?




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